Tim Leberecht, who authored this piece, is one of the speakers.
Check out the full Impact program here.
Emotions were flying high.
Some of the people in the room began to beat their robots reluctantly but aborted quickly.
Some even broke out in tears.
Everybody struggled, and in the end no one followed the order.
Darling tells this story to illustrate that we humans are perfectly capable of forming emotional attachments to machines.
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As Darlingpoints out, we humans tend to anthropomorphize not just robots, but objects in general.
But with robots we also empathize.
They cant suffer, but we can suffer with and for them.
Interestingly, by assuming such a reciprocal relationship, we indirectly bestow personhood on them.
In any case, it is complicated.
Conversational intelligence
Can robots develop empathy for us as well or at least pretend to?
Seventy percent of millennials worldwide say theyfavor online customer support over interacting with a live human agent.
In speaking with a chatbot, users would appreciate not being judged by another human.
Not so with a chatbot.
Unlike humans, chatbots are innate masters of active listening.
Our relationships with chatbots and robots in general might enhance our capacity to do so.
Even if its physiognomy appears alien, a robots behavior can engender familiarity.
Learning to move in harmony and feel as a single unit, they build collective muscle memory.
For humans and robots alike there is no sensitivity without counter-force.
As a result, the robot can move more naturally and the human can operate it more intuitively.
Trust is a byproduct.
This can be a physical safety zone or a temporal break in our interactions with robots at the workplace.
The robot isnt the enemy robot-like perfection is.
We want the robots softer, while not becoming harder ourselves.
No wonder they can come across as robots.
Of all the soft skills needed to thrive in the robotic age, humility is the most important one.
As humans, humility is our shelter from hubris and aggression.
